Pale Flames
by Lonlystone
Summary: She was exiled from her home. She was forced to give up everything she had. She was alone. Luna trained to be strong enough to portect. Then when she couldnt she found herself drowning in reget. She can't find it in herself to pick herself up anymore. Then he comes and maybe she wont have to so it alone.
1. Chapter 1

"Big Sister! Big Sister, look at what I made in my studies today!" The little boy in front of her smiled brightly, his raven hair cut just long enough to frame his round face. He held up a small hand painted bird house for her to see. The outside was a dark blue that was only a few shades short of being black, the only color to the painted wood being a single silver cresent moon that sat just above the entrance. "Did you make that for me?" She asked with a laugh. "Yeah! Your the best Big Sister!" Thin arms circled there way around her waist as he own settled around his shoulders in a loose embrace. Then in an instant, everything seemed to change.

The arms tightened with a strength that didn't belong even as the bird house crashed to the ground, shattering like glass as it hit. The grass rippled like water as emerald gave way to ruby. "Your the best so why did you leave me there? Why did you leave me to die?" His words drew her attention away from a world that was growing darker with each passing second. She dropped to her knees panic rising in her chest as the crimson that wasn't there moments ago continued to stain his white tunic. "Asuma? Asuma, what happened? What are you talking about? I would never let you be hurt?" Dull blue eyes watched her from an expressionless face.

"Yet you did." She startled not having noticed the three men who where suddenly there around then. "What? Elder please, Asuma's bleeding badly! He's Hurt!" She tried to get the boy to say something, anything. "No. He's dead. Him, your father, the villagers, everyone and its all because you weren't there." Her eyes flashed up to meet the oldest of the three men. Confusion mixing with panic. "I just saw them. They saw me off for my guardian training only days ago!" She held the boy by the arms in a grip that she knew would turn out to be bruising. "A mistake. We allowed you to train as a Guardian, a Priestess and in return you bring death to Crystalia."

Gnarled hands landed on small shoulders, pulling the boy from her hands no matter how desperately she held to him. She stumbled to her feet in an attempt to go after them only to be held back by the two men behind her. "Where are you taking him?! Asuma!" tears carved there way down her cheeks but despite her calls the boy did not move. "You are never to return. The last child of the noble house of Blade, you are banished from the Isle of Obsidian. You have disgraced the title of Guardian and tarnished the Priesthood. May you find peace before you meet your brother in the afterlife."

"No!No, that's my brother! Let me go! Let me go, please!" She begged as she was dragged away. Still the boy did not move. "Asuma! Asuma!" Her yells where torn from her throat and finally the youngest responded. With eyes that didn't quite focus he looked up. "You left me. You left me to die with them. You killed me." her had whispered the words but for her, they would have no clearer then if he had yelled them. "I didn't! I didn't leave you! Asuma, please!" The men that held her where shaking her lightly even as black began to eat away at the young boy she loved so much and the man who still help him. Just as the darkness consumed them she shook her head and met the boys eyes once more. "Wake up!" He yelled around a mouthful of blood.

She felt her body startle awake before her mind fully understood what was happening. for the slightest of seconds she was trapped in the darkness that had consumed her little brother. Her mind numb as it drifted between the world of nightmares and consciousness. In the distance she could hear the sound of a dying scream. The sound raw and harsh against the silence and it was with sick fascination that she realized the scream was her own. Then the scream, her scream, was cut off by harsh coughs that rocked her body and brought her fully into the moment. She expected the pain that came from using her voice to much all at once. She expected the burning feeling that was left on her cheek, a result of cracked sun burnt skin come into contact with salt water tears. She does not however expect the gentle hand that rubs her back or the soft voice that is trying to calm her.

In time she was able to stop herself from coughing and pealed her eyes back to stare up at who ever was there. The man was young by the worlds standards, perhaps a year older then herself, with eyes the color of tempered steel and unruly black hair. A splash of freckles dusted his cheekbones like stars in the night sky. "Who are you?" She asked softly as she forced herself to move backward until she could lean against the wall of the dingy she had made home for the last fee weeks. "My names Ace. A look out on the ship saw you out here. I came out to see if you where alright." The man said as he moved to sit inside the skiff. His movements where slow and deliberate, one eye on her at all times while the other searched for weapons. He was a smart man.

"What's your name?" He asked his voice even. She couldn't stop herself from chuckling. "You don't have to worry. I wont attack." She said turning her gaze to the sky. Endless blue mocked her, the same color as the ocean that held her hostage. "I know." Ace said. The words where said so surely that She felt her eyes flash to the man in front of him. "How do you know?" She asked brokenly. "Because I've seen eyes like your. Eyes that have all but given up on the world." She watched him for a while before nodding. "Yeah, but the only way to see into the eyes of the lost is to have once had them yourself." The old saying came unbidden to her lips.

Silver eyes widened before Ace chuckled "Yeah. I guess that's true." He rubbed at the back of his neck for a few moments before his smile dropped. "Question is, will you let me show you that the world isn't such a dark place?" This time the smile was her own. "I don't know if theres a light left out there that can break threw the shadows I see." She admitted in a voice that quivered as much as she did. The man's laugh returned. A hand reached behind him to pull a orange cowboy hat from his back and settle it on his head. "I know a few people that are pretty bright. Some people say they remind them of fire." The wind blew from behind her, wrapping invisible arms around her tired body and dancing between the two of them. "My name is Luna." She sighed ignoring his calls for her to stay awake as the darkness robbed her of her senses once more.


	2. Chapter 2

When the look outs first yelled about seeing something on the horizon the crew started gearing up for a fight. Then the watchman started to slip down the mast a a frenzied pace. "Shit, shit, shit." He yelled as he ran to ware the commanders and Whitebeard where at. "Koran! What's wrong?" Thatch asked when he caught the younger man after he stumbled. "It's not an attack. It looks like it's a castaway situation." Whitebeard looked out over the sea, just barely spotting the object in the distance. "What where you able to see my son?" The man took a deep breath to connect his thoughts before turning his whole attention to his adopted brother.

"I couldn't make out much from where I was standing but there was some white cloth fluttering in the wind along side a seagull that hovered but didn't land. The boat its self is no bigger then a life boat. I think it might be a castaway situation." The boy said. The air about the ship shifted in a moment. Instead of grabbing there weapons and getting into battle positions they where getting ready for a rescue. Several people went to get the infirmary ready. Thatch, Marco, and Ace ran to the side of the ship. "Thatch, help me get the air lift stretcher attached to my talons. Ace you go on ahead on the Striker, if there out cold Ill need you to lift them into position." Marco yelled before shifting into his Phoenix form. Thatch met Izo and Haruta and started attaching a small light weight stretcher to his birdlike form.

Ace jumped over the edge of the large ship with a grace that the others often forgot he had. Flipping to land on his small skiff that Vista had dropped into the water, Flames roared to life at his feet and he flew forward. The Striker made short work of the distance but whatever Ace had expected, it wasn't what was really there. In front of his was nothing short of an angel. Long wild white hair framed an angular face with what was supposed to be pale skin but the sun had turned it bright red. Even beneath a long white dress was a body far to thin to be healthy. yet despite the clear starvation and dehydration tears still fell from beneath long lashes.

He hesitated looking around the small boat for any weapons as he tied the two ships together. Leaning over and shaking her, careful of the inflamed skin girl whimpered softly and shook her head but didn't wake. "Hey wake up. Miss? Miss, you need to wake up." He said but the girl just continued to cry. "Come on, wake up!" He called with a bit more force. In a second the girl was awake. She jerked forward with a scream that belonged to a dying men. He was quick to catch her shoulders but the scream had turned into a caught. Now Ace was the youngest Whitebeard Pirate, he was in a since the younger brother to hundreds of overprotective brothers and sisters however, he was the eldest to one. He had practically raised Luffy and in all those years he found that the best way to comfort someone who was hurt and crying was to simply rub there back.

"Easy. Its alright. Don't try to stop it. It'll be okay." He said softly. The woman slowly stopped and opened her eyes. Crystal blue met his gaze and he felt his heart shutter. The shadows there where perhaps deeper then even his own, the raw desperation not in the least bit dimmed by exhaustion that filled them. "Who are you?" she asked. Ace smiled warmly. "My names Ace. A look out on the ship saw you out here. I came out to see if you where alright." He flared his Haki until he could feel the aura of his brothers still on the ship. She pulled herself up to sit against the wall so Ace took the opportunity to move into her boat. Slowly he climbed over to sit in front of her. He took another look around to make sure there where no weapons around.

"What's your name?" He asked careful of his wording. He had witnessed people give into the shadows that haunt them. Seen simple questions break the fragile strings that held there lives together. "You don't have to worry. I wont attack." Her laugh was strained, something that she did automatically instead of when it meant she was happy. "I know." Another thing living with Luffy and the Whitebeards had taught him was to trust his heart. The woman was strong, even in her weakened for she would make for a good fight, however she wouldn't hurt him. She eyed him for a moment "How do you know?" It was like she had never been trusted, like she had never been given a chance so she had built her walls up so high that when someone knocked instead of smashed into it she didn't know what to do. It was like he was looking in the mirror of himself from so long ago.

"Because I've seen eyes like your. Eyes that have all but given up on the world." The moment she understood him, understood he knew her hurt was visible in her eyes."Yeah, but the only way to see into the eyes of the lost is to have once had them yourself." Surprise filled him. It had been a long time since he had heard those words. For a moment the image of a young blond in blue clothes flashed across his mind. Words from a voice he thought he had forgotten whispered past his senses. "The only way to see the eyes of the lost is to have once had them yourself, maybe you and me can help each other find a way to make our dreams come true. We'll be pirates, free and happy on the sea!"

Just as quick as it came it was gone leaving him with a smile. "Yeah. I guess that's true." He said more to the ghostly voice then the woman in front of him. A smile that slipped off his face when he saw eyes that where to light to match those of the boy he lost so long ago. "Question is, will you let me show you that the world isn't such a dark place?" She was shaking, Ace couldn't tell if it was the stress of the situation she was in or the fear of someone breaking threw her walls. "I don't know if theres a light left out there that can break threw the shadows I see." She wasn't supposed to be this fragile. Even just meeting the woman he knew in his heart that she wasn't supposed to be scared of living life happily.

He pulled his hat on his head to try and hide the sadness he felt. A habit he had picked up from his baby brother long ago. "I know a few people that are pretty bright. Some people say they remind them of fire." He knew Marco would be more then willing to help the woman in front of him. He had chased Ace's own shadows away so he knew he could count on his brother to help him with chasing away the womans. His head snapped up when her quiet voice drifted over to him, ridding on a wind that hadn't been there before. He rushed forward to catch the girl. "Hey, hey wake up! Luna, right? Come on you need to wake up." He heard the wing beats of Marco coming ever closer. "Come on, she's just passed out." He yelled pulling her into his arms as Marco hovered beside the boat. The gurney had several spots on the frame that where freshly welded together.

He strapped the girl into the harness before jumping backward onto Striker. "I'll meet you there." He said even as the fire ate the rope that held the to boats together. He stayed in the shadow of Marco and the air born cot, making sure to keep his flames from getting to hot and making striker go faster then the careful speed Marco had adopted. He left the skiff in the water trusting the crew to pick it up before it drifted away and climbed the latter someone had dropped down. "What happened?" Ace asked as Thatch helped him up the last few steps. "Whale breached under the ship just as Marco was about to take off. The ship tilted and it sent Kingdew and Vista both into Marco. He lost his concentration and his talons sliced threw the frame of the lift so we had to weld it back to normal." Thatch explained as they ran across deck.

"You said she was awake when you first got there right?" Marco asked now in his human form as Luna was taken by Whiskey and Bay to the infirmary. "No. She was sleeping but I was able to wake her up. The only thing I was able to get out of her was her first name, Luna, and the fact she doesn't want to hurt anyone. I think something happened to her. Something Horrible." Marco eyed the raven haired teen "Your sure?" He asked. Ace nodded and his brother sighed. "Let's let the medics get her healthy then we'll see if we can help her." Ace chuckled "I know we can."


	3. Chapter 3

It took three weeks for the nurses to get Luna into a stable condition. Sever dehydration, sever malnutrition, horrible sun burns, the beginnings of scurvy, even a infection from a cut along side her upper arm kept her in bed. She was so out off it because of the many different medications that in the small amount of time that she was awake she was unresponsive. Eyes the color of an over turned glacier would stair up at the ceiling with a dullness that frightened the crew.

During the first week no one was allowed in to see her but the doctors and nurses, she was classified as critical and given first priority care. One the second week only the commanders where allowed to see her. Izo, Thatch, Ace, and Marco made it a point to at least ask about her once a day. It wasn't until the third week, when her body was accepting the meds and her color was returning to her cheeks that the rest of the crew where allowed to come in. One such crew member was a young man named Kai that was new to the ship. The boy was only older then Ace by a few months and had a brain injury when he was a child that resulted in giving him a few social draw backs.

The boy would sit beside her bedside and talk to her in calm voice, telling her about the day he had and the many new people he met threw out the ship. He would brush her long white hair and tuck her blanket in around her feet with the care of a sibling. The crew found it cute and while they allowed him to continue it wasn't until Huruta caught him doing it that they found out why. Kai had been abused as a child, his injury was a result of it. He had been shopping with his father when the man struck him and he was finally rescued by a young Luna. The pirates listened as he told them about how Luna had offered him a place in he family home, taught his how to heal people in her peoples traditional way, even how to trust his heart, until he had decided to leave home.

The woman had many more visitor's after that. Friends of Kai's that wanted to show the white haired girl there thanks but nothing seemed to bring the light back into her eyes. It was the second day of the fourth week when the Moby was attacked. The enemy had hidden most of there fleet down below, they along with a surprising amount of devil fruit users caught the Whitebeards off guard and as the battle raged the infirmary started to fill up. Kai crashed threw the doors with a gash to his side and tears in his eyes but instead of going to a bed like his brothers around him he stumbled his was to her.

"You have to help them! Please Luna, there getting hurt! Please save my family!" He begged as he dropped to his knees and rest his head on her bed. "The Whitebeards are strong but even one is to much..." He whimpered. On her bed Luna's eyes flew open and she took a deep breath. "Get me my things Kai." She said softly with no emotion to her voice. The boy nodded quickly and returned with the belt she had been found with. "Hey man, your not supposed to mess with other peoples things." A member of his division Danny, said as he saw him grab it from the corner of the infirmary. "She asked for them." He said.

The mans head snapped to where he could see the woman standing and slipping her worn shoes on from under her bed. "She's awake?" He asked in astonishment as she walked slowly toward them. She grabbed the belt from Kai and smiled and she pet his head. "I'm sorry I worried you, go rest. I will take your place in battle." Kai laughed and walked over to lay where she once did. Luna's eyed the group around her who where so busy with tending there own that very few had notice her move. Her eyes lingered on the bloody bandages as she snapped her belt on. She caught Danny's gaze and nodded once before disappearing threw the door.

The upper deck was a mess, the commanders where being kept busy with the devil fruit users while the others fought. Luna took a few steps back and ran forward, using the railing as a spring she launched herself off of it and flipped down to the lower deck letting loss four throwing knives as she did. Her feet hit the ground and she was dropping low to both avoid a sword and kick the feet from under a man. She spun low and turned it into a cartwheel that caught two men under the jaw as she regained her footing. She moved like water avoiding the attacks while knocking men out or throwing knives at enemies that where trying to get the drop on the Whitebeard Pirates.

At one point she found herself fighting side by side with Izo and was forced to draw her sai daggers to catch and shatter a blade that was aimed for he side. The sharp shooter was surprised to see the formally still woman up and moving but a shot aimed at him distracted him from asking any questions. Luna herself flipped one man atop another with a well aimed judo move before elbowing another in the jaw. It was another hour before the fight came to its end. She looked around her once more before sliding her blades home. Many people rushed to see her, the fastest being Ace and Thatch.

"Are you alright?" Ace asked the confused girl. "Yes. I am well now, thank you for your care. Where am I?" She asked the fire user. However it wasn't he who answered. "That was amazing! How did you do that? You where taking guys out almost as fast as I was!" Thatch looked a bit like a over exited puppy as he looked at her. "I was asked to help." She said simply. "Asked to help or not, we still owe you our thanks." Marco said as he walked up. "I only wish I could have woken sooner." She said with a polite bow to the blond. "Oh yeah, you where in that weird half awake mode for awhile. Are you alright now? What woke you up?" Ace rolled his eyes at his pompadoured friend. "I am fine now thank you, I just needed some help." She answered with soft eyes. They weren't bright by any means but there was the smallest of sparks in them.

She turned When she heard her name and just barely caught Kai as he rushed into her arms, the boy was shorter then her by a few inches and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Thank you, thank you , thank you." He said frantically into her shoulder. "Calm yourself little one, all is well and I shall protect you until you are not of need of me as I did all those years ago." she said as she carded her hand threw the boys hair. "So Kai was the one who asked you for help? Not surprising this is the first real big fight he's been here for since he joined." Marco said as he watched others get checked out by various medics that made there way threw the crowd. "Kai go tend to the hurt, as I taught you all those years ago." Luna said and the younger was off.

Izo walked over with a smile. "Pops is worried. He said he was about to come up here to join us no matter what the nurses said but he stopped when he felt a new fighter join us." Marco shook his head fondly as the others chuckled then the geisha looked to Luna "He would like to meet you." He said as he studied the woman who simply nodded. The group walked threw awe struck people until they came to Whitebeards room. When They entered the elder man was propped up on his bed by many pillows. "I hear you saved many of my children today." He said with a smile. "I was asked to." She answered with a respectful bow of her head. "Who are you, that you simply help because you where asked?" The gentle giant asked with a laugh.

"I am Blade Luna of the isle Obsidian." Whitebeards eyes widened as another laugh echoed threw the room. "I was unaware that the Crystalians allowed for Priestesses in there order." He said. "They do not. I was the first and last." She said with a blank face. "What position did you hold?" his question rode on a hum. "First Guardian of the Northern Gates sir." She smiled softly at the chuckle that the fact brought from him. "At least you got something from them. Prideful bunch the Priests, to stuck in there ways." Marco looked at his father figure with a smirk, he knew what was coming however Ace and Thatch where glancing at eat other in confusion. "Would you like to join us Priestess? Would you except my mark and become my daughter?"


End file.
